[Ed. Note: Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), Milan-born Italian lawyer and economist, published his Dei delitti a delle pene (Crimes and Punishments) in 1764; his was the first work in modern Europe to call for an end to torture and excessively severe punishment for crimes, arguing that certainty of punishment was more important than extreme severity of punishment; his work had immense influence throughout Europe, particularly in Russia, Sweden, and the Habsburg Empire (the "Austrian Dominions" of the
title), as well as in the United States. --Nelson]